Having Sought and Found
by donutsweeper
Summary: When Grady is injured some admissions come to light.


Adam sighed as he approached Malloy's. It had been one of those days that never seemed to end, starting with a deposition first thing in the morning, continuing to a domestic abuse–turned-murder case, and ending with a hell of a lot of paperwork. All he wanted was a beer and a (relatively) quiet place to drink it and unwind.

Pushing open the door, he was immediately overcome by the sheer tension that was within the bar. Above and beyond the typical ambient noise of a normal night's level of conversation mixed with glasses clinking and other random sounds, there were raised voices and enough stress and unease in the air he could practically taste it. His senses were immediately on alert.

His attention was drawn to the far corner, where three guys were hassling a woman. Malloy was behind the bar, drawing beers and chatting with some regulars, but Adam could tell she had her eye on the troublemakers. Grady was already over there, uncharacteristically trying to defuse the situation instead of just diving in with fists flying like he usually did.

"She said she didn't want to go with you," Grady was saying as he moved between the guys and the woman. His stance was easy, loose and unassuming, but Adam knew from previous experience that he'd be able to switch to fighting or protecting mode at the drop of a hat.

"Yeah, but she's my girl and like I told you, I don't give a shit about what she says she wants," the first guy sneered. He was big, six-three or four, easily 250 pounds and built like a linebacker. He wasn't wearing any colors, but he held himself like he'd been in plenty of street fights and had the air of someone who knew he had people who had his back no matter what.

Which he did; there were two other guys with him, and they stepped closer to him as he spoke. Both had similar builds to the troublemaker. All college football players, maybe? The jacket of the one on the right bulged a bit on the side, immediately setting off Adam's radar, since it was exactly the right size and shape for a handgun stuffed into the waistband.

"It's okay," Grady said, turning slightly so he could address the woman while still keeping an eye on the three men. "You don't have to go with them unless you want to. I can ask them to leave, just say the word. Or, I saw the way he grabbed you, I can help you file a complaint with the police department."

"Christina doesn't have shit to say to you! She's mine and I say she's coming with me!" The ringleader stepped closer to Grady, radiating anger in a way that had Adam reaching for his badge and quickening his pace and preparing to intercede.

"Come on now," Grady began, his tone firmer than it had been with a hint of threat behind it, "we don't want any trouble here. Why don't you and your friends just—"

"Fuck you, asshole!" the guy yelled as he and his two friends all pulled out weapons—two handguns and a switchblade.

The woman screamed, "Ricky, no!"

Adam added to the confusion by shouting, "Police, drop it!"

Grady was already moving, pushing Christina down and out of the way while grabbing the gun from the man closest to him before stepping into a spinning kick to take down the second man. Adam jumped into the fray, grabbing the third man and pulling him away from the others and up against the bar while twisting the arm that held the gun behind his back. The guy tried to slip out of his grip but Adam held firm and quickly slammed him against the bar, kicking his feet apart to keep him off kilter. Within a minute or two, he'd disarmed the man and was cuffing him when he hear Malloy call Grady's name, her tone setting off alarm bells in his head.

Making sure to keep a firm arm on the guy to keep him pressed against the bar, Adam turned and immediately saw what had upset Malloy: Grady had taken out the two men who attacked him as well as a third who hadn't been originally part of the group menacing the woman, but hadn't managed to do it unscathed. One of the men, most likely the one who Adam hadn't noticed before, had managed to get past Grady's defenses and knifed him. He stood there, stock still, with blade was buried deep in his side, eyes roving the room before locking on Adam's.

"Beaudreaux?" Two of the bar regulars, Adam blanked on their names, came over. "We got this guy, you go help Grady."

Just then Grady paled considerably, spurning Adam into action, handing his charge over as he rushed over to Grady. "Thank you," he called over his shoulder. "Malloy, call 911. Get an ambulance and a squad car here ASAP! Grady?" He stopped a few feet away, waiting to make sure Grady was aware it was him approaching and wouldn't lash out. "Grady?"

"B?"

Checking the downed assailants, Adam found them all either stunned or unconscious and he quickly directed other familiar faces to keep eyes on them until backup arrived. "Yeah, it's me. I'm going to help get you down onto the floor now, ready?"

"The woman, is she okay?"

Christina, the woman Grady had been protecting, had just gotten to her feet. Other than looking a little shaky and pretty horrified at everything that had happened, Adam thought she seemed fine.

"She's fine, Grady, let's worry about you now." He moved behind Grady, carefully wrapping an arm around his chest to support him as he gently lowered him down. Grady clutched the arm tightly, making it impossible for Adam to slip out from behind him, so he had to settle down on the floor himself with Grady's shoulders and head leaning against him.

Malloy ran over, throwing herself on her knees next to them. "Help should be here soon," she told Adam before gesturing with the towels she brought. "Grady, we need to slow the bleeding. This is going to hurt, okay?"

"It's fine," Grady ground out. "Just do it."

She and Adam exchanged looks for a moment before he nodded to her and she wrapped the towels around the knife - it was better to leave it in for now and let the medical professionals remove it later - and pressed. Grady didn't make a sound but Adam could feel him tense in response to the pain.

Despite focusing most of his attention on Grady, Adam was peripherally aware of that some bar patrons were cleaning up the place while others had gone outside to help direct the incoming police and ambulance. He also couldn't help but notice Grady's breathing was becoming more and more shallow and rapid and he'd gotten even paler, to the point of being almost gray, all signs that he going into shock.

"Grady," he said, tapping at the death grip Grady had on his arm. "I need you to let me go so we can lay you down flat."

"No. No, I'm good."

"Grady, please," Malloy begged. "You're losing too much blood. Let us help you."

"B…." Grady leaned back, looking up at him with such fear, such desperation in his eyes, Adam was momentarily taken aback. For a second he was back in 'Nam and Grady was eight years old again, begging not to be left behind. Then he understood.

"I'm not going anywhere, Grady. I'm right here, I'm just going to move so I'm next to you instead of behind you, all right?" At first Grady didn't appear to understand what Adam was saying, but then he nodded and released Adam's arm.

Adam immediately shifted backwards and lowered him down flat. Since Malloy was already settled on Grady's right, where the knife was, Adam kneeled on his left and grabbed Grady's hand, clasping it between his own. "I'm right here. I got you, Grady. I'm not leaving you, not again."

He was still holding onto that hand when the uniforms arrived and he continued to hold it all the way through the EMT's ministrations to stabilize him. He only let go once Grady was on the stretcher and being wheeled into the ambulance. "I'll meet you at the hospital, Grady," he promised, even though he was pretty sure Grady couldn't hear him anymore.

As a both a cop and participant in everything that happened, Adam couldn't leave the bar immediately after the ambulance took off, but the uniforms and detectives on the case all knew him and made sure to get statements from him and Malloy right away so they could head to the hospital as quickly as possible.

Maybe it was abusing his power a little bit, but Adam used the siren on the way to Mercy. He figured it was safer all around - it got people the hell out of his way and let him safely go above the speed limit - so he was able to make the drive in record time. Running inside, they found Miguel already there.

"Any word?" Malloy asked breathlessly.

"I just got here but…" Miguel shrugged helplessly. "They wouldn't tell me anything. Thanks for calling, though, and letting me know what happened."

Malloy swept him into her arms, hugging him tightly. "Of course." Turning to Adam, she mouthed _'I got this'_ before saying out loud, "Adam, go work your magic with the nurses and see what you can find out."

Patting Miguel's shoulder, Adam said, "I'll be back as soon as I can."

It wasn't easy; Grady was a grown man and technically Adam didn't have any legal right to demand an update on his condition. But eventually he did manage to learn enough to report back to Malloy and Miguel.

"He was taken straight into surgery. Tests showed that the knife missed his internal organs, but they think it might have nicked an artery, so it was a damn good thing we stabilized it the way we did instead of trying to remove it." Adam carefully ignored the curse Miguel muttered under his breath at the news. "The surgery is probably going to take a couple of hours, so we might as well get comfortable."

The waiting room was crowded, but they found three chairs together. Malloy sat between them, occasionally taking one of their hands or squeezing a knee any time one of them seemed to need a bit of contact. Eric, Kelsey, and even Charlie stopped by to see if there was any news and to share what information they had about Malloy's. The bar had been cleared as a crime scene and locked up for the night. The woman Grady had been protecting, Christina Fuente, was fine and now at her sister's. She had been persuaded to file a restraining order against her ex, who, along with the three other attackers, was now in jail facing various charges.

There was no mention of the fact that one of those, the assault charge, might end up being changed to manslaughter or possibly even murder two depending how the evening went. As the hours passed, however, even if no one was willing to say it, it was obvious some were at least thinking about it.

Eventually a weary-looking nurse emerged, calling, "Family for Grady Jameson?"

"Here," Adam said, jumping to his feet and walking over, Malloy and Miguel on either side of him. The nurse eyed them for a moment, no doubt thinking their claim seemed unlikely, but either he didn't care enough to question it or was kind enough to accept it and he just nodded and waved them through the doors and into a small alcove where a doctor was waiting for them.

"Things were touch and go there for a little while, and he did lose quite a lot of blood, but barring complications, he should be fine," she, thankfully, stated plainly. Adam always appreciated people who didn't try to beat around the bush.

"Oh, thank god," Malloy sighed, closing her eyes as Miguel let out a loud whoop and swept them both into a boisterous hug.

"He's in recovery right now but we'll be moving him to a room in a few minutes, if one of you would like to sit with him once he's there."

Before Adam could reply, Malloy spoke up, "Yes, that'd be great, thank you." He turned to her, not wanting to demand that _he_ be the one to see Grady—he was perfectly willing to acknowledge how close the two of them had gotten since Grady had come to town, but she had none of the history he and Grady had, and… she must have seen something in his expression because she smacked him on the arm. "Go on already. Miguel and I will head back to the bar to clean things up and put together a bag of Grady's things to bring in for him tomorrow. Give us a call there when he wakes up and make sure you give him our best."

"I will." He offered Malloy and Miguel a tired smile before turning to the doctor. "If you could show me the way?"

"Follow me."

He followed the doctor through the halls and up two floors, where she led him past a nurse's station and into to Grady's room. A nurse was there, checking the monitors and other various things he was attached to. "I'll have him settled in a moment, doctor," she said when she saw them.

Adam stopped just inside the doorway. It felt wrong to see him like this; Grady was pale and far too still.

The doctor walked past Adam to check Grady's chart and made a few notes. "Everything is looking good. His oxygen levels have stabilized and now they're right where they're supposed to be. I'll check on him in a few hours, and I'll have my pager with me while I do rounds, so if anything happens one of the nurses will be able to reach me."

Adam swallowed past the lump in his throat and managed to get out a heartfelt, "Thank you, doctor."

Once she left, the nurse turned to Adam, pulling the room's sole chair out of the corner and closer to the bed. "He'll probably be asleep for at least another hour or so. Why don't you sit down and make yourself comfortable?" Once he'd removed his jacket and slung it over the back on the chair, she pointed to the call button and added, "I'll just be out at the desk. Press the button if you need me."

He might have nodded in response, but he was so focused on Grady that it was possible he ignored her completely. The next thing he knew, she was gone and he was alone with Grady.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there before reaching out and carefully taking Grady's hand in his own. "Hey, Grady, it's me, B. The doctor said you're going to be okay. You'll probably have to take it easy for a while until you're all healed up, though. I can just hear the excuses you'll make: you don't want to disappoint the kids at the dojo, Malloy needs your help with the bar, you're not one for sitting still. They're all decent arguments, I'll give you that, but you know what? I don't care. I don't want to lose you, I can't. Not now that we've found each other again."

At some point later, the nurse poked her head into the room. "How's he doing, Mister…."

"Beaudreaux. Detective Beaudreaux." Adam released Grady's hand, laying it back down on the bed, and looked Grady over as he pondered the nurse's question. "I don't know. He doesn't seem like he's in pain, but... Grady's just always so full of life, always moving. Seeing him like this… It's hard."

"It's never easy to see our loved ones in the hospital," the nurses said as she moved about, examining Grady's bandages and IV. "But he's doing as well as can be expected. Your, um, I mean, Mister Jameson—"

"My son," Adam said softly. "He's… Grady is my son."

The nurse smiled at him. "Your son is young and strong and his stats are better than expected this soon after surgery. I know it's hard, but try not to worry too much." After making a few notes in Grady's chart, she added, "There's coffee and a few snacks in the visitor's lounge. Would you like me to bring you some?"

"No, but thank you," Adam replied. Once she left, he was about to take Grady's hand again when he noticed Grady was awake and looking at him. "Grady? How you doing?"

"You look terrible, B, you should've taken that coffee."

Adam laughed. " _I_ look terrible? You should take a good long look at yourself," he groused, falling back into their familiar banter before pausing as something occurred to him. "So, you heard that, huh? Exactly how long have you been awake?"

"Not long. Just since, since you told her… since you told her I was…." Grady trailed off and shifted, turning away, obviously uncomfortable.

"Since I told her you were my son," Adam said softly. He scooted his chair even closer to the bed and reached out, taking Grady's chin in his hand and forcing him to meet his eyes. "Back in 'Nam I would have taken you with me if I could, Grady. You know that. And then, or if I'd found you any of the times I was looking for you while you were still a kid, I would have adopted you. Maybe we're not related in any legal kind of way, but you're family. My family." He stood up and leaned over, pressing a kiss into Grady's hair before straightening, smiling at him and tapping his cheek. "Got it?"

"Got it."

"Good. Now don't you forget it." Adam tried to sound threatening, but he couldn't keep a straight face and within moments they were both laughing.

A little later, once Grady had fallen back asleep, Adam called Malloy. "Reporting in, as ordered," he joked as soon as she answered the phone.

"How's he doing?" The tension in her voice was palpable.

"He woke up for a little bit and we talked. He's going to be fine."

She immediately relayed his message and Adam could hear Miguel's enthusiastic responding cheer. "Really?"

"Yeah, Malloy, he's going to be just fine."


End file.
